3 Bold Moves That Are Shaping My 2026
Building a massive network, growing an engaged community, and forming strategic partnerships is what drives me as I head into the new year.
Over the past two decades, I’ve focused on the one simple idea of creating real connections that help professionals connect and businesses thrive.
From launching and scaling local business communities to publishing high-quality newsletters that connect founders, operators, and business leaders across multiple markets, my work has always centered on building platforms that turn relationships into real opportunities.
This year, that mission is evolving.
In the year ahead, I’m focused on three priorities:
Build a powerful network
Grow an engaged community
Form strategic partnerships
I’ve learned that when a strong network, an engaged community, and real partnerships come together, connections stop being transactional and create real opportunities.
They become the foundation for lasting growth and impact.
🌐 Building a Massive Network
Most people see newsletters as a content business, something to post consistently and in volume.
I built mine as a distribution network for building connections that are powered by unique and high-value local content.
Connections to new ideas.
Connections to great opportunities.
Connections to each other.
That difference is everything.
The real story behind building a network of 25 local business newsletters is that it wasn’t about growth hacks or scale. It was about earning trust market by market, building real relationships, and bringing a community together.
I didn’t build 25 separate newsletters.
I built 1 repeatable system.
This is the part most creators miss.
Each city isn’t a new startup.
It’s a node in a growing network.
Across the three platforms I have been testing, Substack, beehiiv, and Kit, I have built a durable, high-value network of local business newsletters, including:
Why did I scale to 25 cities instead of “going deeper” in one?
Depth matters. But leverage matters more.
A single strong local market is a business.
A connected group of strong local markets is a platform.
When you operate multiple cities:
partners think in regional rollouts
community leaders think of expansion
and your brand stops being “a newsletter”
… it becomes an ecosystem.
The goal was never “unique content per city.”
It was to provide unprecedented value for busy local professionals.
That’s what is scalable.
That’s building a community infrastructure.
🤝 Growing an Engaged Community
Local business communities are still vastly underserved.
Every new city isn’t just about subscribers.
It’s about creating a connected community.
Each city adds:
new relationships
new deal flow
new partnerships
That’s why I built the network of local business newsletters.
Not to be a publisher.
But to build a connected local business network … city by city.
Everyone talks about building a large audience. I’ve built dozens of local business newsletters, and what I learned is that size doesn’t matter without engagement.
A thousand passive subscribers are worth far less than a hundred who read, respond, share, and act. Engagement is the engine that turns connections into opportunities.
When people open your emails, click on links, respond to polls, or show up to events, they are giving you their most valuable currency: attention.
Attention compounds trust. And trust is what unlocks real influence, partnerships, and revenue.
A community that engages isn’t just a list … it’s a network of real relationships.
👉 Connecting with Strategic Partners
As we move into 2026, I find myself shifting from a ‘growth strategy’ to a ‘partnership strategy’.
For a long time, I did what most founders and media operators do.
I focused on:
better content
better funnels
better tools
And yes … all of that matters.
But here’s the truth I learned after building my network of local business newsletters:
If your strategy doesn’t include strategic partners, it isn’t a strategy.
It’s a to-do list.
At a certain scale, effort stops being the bottleneck.
Access becomes the bottleneck.
You can have a great audience, strong engagement, a repeatable growth engine, and a clear business model … and still stall.
Why?
Because the next level of growth usually requires:
markets you don’t control
relationships you don’t own
and trust you haven’t earned yet in those circles
You can’t brute-force that.
You have to borrow it.
At 25 cities, my biggest opportunities aren’t incremental.
They’re structural.
Things like:
multi-market sponsorships
co-hosted netwinars and local events
shared pipelines of vetted businesses
and regional rollouts instead of city-by-city selling
Those opportunities only exist if the right organizations are embedded into the model.
No ad spend can create that.
No automation can replace that.
That’s why my next phase of growth isn’t about more tactics.
It’s about better strategic partners.
✅ The Takeaway
Building a massive network, growing an engaged community, and forming true strategic partnerships isn’t three separate initiatives.
It’s a strategy to have one integrated growth engine.
A large network creates reach, an engaged community creates trust, and strategic partners create access and leverage you can’t manufacture on your own.
When those three work together, growth stops being driven by campaigns and tactics and starts being driven by relationships, relevance, and shared outcomes.
The kind that compounds across markets, accelerates expansion, and turns a local audience into a scalable business ecosystem.
As I make these bold moves in 2026, I would love your input on what matters most to you.
Have a great rest of the week!
- Mike
